Feb 26, 2008

This little piggy...

The fantastic cook that inspired my piggy mission, goes by username “oblakica” (with recipe in Croatian), says the recipe originates from an old Dr.Oetker cookbook. Her recipe calls for two different kinds of dough, and a filling, and it must be wonderful with cheese, oregano and tomato sauce. I am bound to make that next time.

In the meantime, I have only adapted the silly piglet form for my kids, and just to see if it would work, so I made some dough in my bread machine, just French white, and rolled it to about 1/3 inch thickness, cut out circles with coffee cups for faces, small ones for nose with a bottle cap, and cut a bunch of those small ones into quarters for the ears. Yeah, I know, I desperately need more kitchen gadgets, like cookie cutters : )
I did all that separately; also made small slits in the nose, used peppercorns for the eyes, and put some rosemary for each nostril for more authentic look. Helps to be an artist : )

With all pieces ready, I just “glued it” with egg yolk wash. Bake in a preheated oven @ 405 F, for about 15 minutes or so.

I am so happy with the results, and the kids love them, of course! I make bread often, almost every day, so these piglets are certainly coming back to the table!
My kids ate all those little pigs in no time! I managed to get only one, just to try, and even though it’s just plain bread dough, they have something extra to it!!! I only used like a third of my dough, the rest I baked as a loaf, I wish I made more little pigs… : )

UPDATE !!!Translation of the original recipe by Oblakica (the best I could)
(link to Croatian version on top of this post)

First, make first dough by mixing all ingrediens, and let it rise in a warm place. In the meantime, make puff dough with second batch of ingredients, and then mix it into the risen dough (yes, mix'em together), and work it well on a floured surface. Roll the dough and with a round cookie cutter or something else cut out circles about 3 inches in diametar or desired size. Leave some dough for ears and noses :)

Make filling with cheese, tomato sauce (pizza sauce), and oregano. You can be creative and use different kinds of ingredients to make a filling of your own. You can also add ham, or salami, or vegetables.

Place half of circles onto baking sheet (aligned with parchment paper), brush edges with egg white wash. Put some filling in the middle, cover with other half of circles, and press the edges to assure nothing will come out while baking.

Remainder of the dough use to make smaller circles for nose, and for ears by cutting them into quarters. Use egg whites wash as «adhesive» for ears and nose. For nose make somewhat smaller circles. For eyes and nostrils use a toothpick to make little lines and then inside, put cumin, pepper or something similar.

Now that you have little piglets, let them rise again for a little while, and then brush them with a little bit of egg yolk wash mixed with a little bit of milk. Bake for about 20-25 min. @ about 385-405 F.

My note: you can use something else for the eyes if you are concerened about kids biting into peppercorns. Oblakica didn'tuse peppercorns, but other herbs. My kids just took the peppercorns out. Enjoy! I am sure for whomever you make them, they will be a hit!!! :)

:) Thank you!Joe: I haven't followed the recipe myself; I just made plain bread, and only used the idea to make piglets, but I will translate it because I plan to make it, and love to share with all of you! So, check back soon...:)

I love your site! These pigs are absolutely the cutest thing and they look scrumptious! I want to make some for my little boy and I know he'll love it. I don't own a bread maker but I do have a kitchen aid stand. Is there a basic french white receipe you can share (never made bread before) that I can adapt without the use of a bread maker?

Hi mmm... :)Here is the recipe I use from the book that came with the bread machine, I am sure you can just mix it up in your kitchen aid, and let it rise for about an 1-1/2 to 2 hours (knead once in between):

thank you so much for the link from your flickr page - I love this and will definately be using this idea for picnic food - can't wait to try it out! Thank you - hope you don't mind, I have added a link to your blog from mine: http://photosbyzoe.blogspot.com/Zoe x

Hi! I just found your Blog~ And want to thank you..I have 2 little grandsons..and I made them each a piggy as I was making your bread recipe in an Epi form..They are darling! My daughter loved them and will make hamburger buns for an upcoming kiddie party!Thanks so much for sharing~

Monique - I am so glad you found my blog useful, and you are most welcome! :)It is so nice to have people try the recipes, or ideas that I blog about! Have fun making piggy bread with your grandchildren, and hope your daughter's kiddie party will be a blast!Thank you for stopping by! :)

I made these today! Yours look so neat and perfect! My were a little sloppy, but still so adorable! These little piggys will make an appearance at my son's 1st birthday party! :D PS: I used mustard seed for eyes; they are kid friendly, and actually taste grate!

I found this post though Pinterest. The photo was so beautiful that I just had to come here to read the recipe! Love it! And love your site :-).

I would like to invite you to share this post (and your other posts :-) ) on a new photo based recipe sharing site that launched in May. The idea is simple: all recipe photographs are published within minutes of submission. And, of course, the images link back to the author's site.

It's called RecipeNewZ (with Z) - http://recipenewz.com

I hope you get a chance to visit and to share some of your delicious posts with our viewers. It would be a pleasure to have you on board :-)

Gonna make these for schooll parties this year. Always try to make cute snacks for school parties and these are cute and look somewhat easy( alot easier than Skeleton cupcakes:) ) Thanks for great idea.

My daughter and I made these today! I dont own a bread machine ao for the 2nd batch of just flour n butter i had to add some water cuz it was toooo dry. We didnt use any stuffing, just the 3" circle n used a shot glass to cut out the noses. Next time I think I'll add red food coloring to either the dough or egg wash to make the piggies pink.

You have spurred my creative side into imagination on this one! *grin* I can see doing the bottom layer of bread in a herbal mix, layer cheese and sauce in middles, top layer plain bread. Little surprise piggies!